Obama: ‘Lipstick on a pig’  —  Amie Parnes reports from Lebanon, VA: … The crowd apparently took the “lipstick” line as a reference to Palin, who described the difference between a hockey mom and a pit bull in a single word: “lipstick.”  —  UPDATE: The McCain campaign is now saying Obama called Palin a pig, which he didn't.

World wants Obama as president: poll  —  US Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama may be struggling to nudge ahead of his Republican rival in polls at home, but people across the world want him in the White House, a BBC poll said.  —  All 22 countries covered in the poll would prefer …

NBC/WSJ Poll: '08 race turns into a dead heat  —  Barack Obama holds a narrow one-point lead over John McCain  —  Sen. John McCain and Gov. Sarah Palin stand together on the stage during a campaign event at in Albuquerque, New Mexico on September 6, 2008.  —  Deputy political director

Ron Paul Plans ‘Special Announcement’  —  Brad Haynes reports on the presidential race.  —  Rep. Ron Paul, the former Republican presidential candidate who excited a multitude of young voters during the primaries, announced a “major” news conference in Washington Wednesday.

Comedy gold: Lefty radio hosts crestfallen as Palin defended by ... Mike Gravel  —  You don't hear their hearts actually start to break until he says, “Troopergate is going to come out in her favor.”  Although the most traumatic part, surely, must have been the exchange about how the mayor …

An awkward moment in Columbia  —  Victoria McGrane:

House Dems to allow vote on energy bill  —  House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) said Monday morning that the newest Democratic energy bill will be brought to the floor under normal rules and will be subject to a vote on a Republican alternative that is likely to call for even more drilling than Democrats are prepared to swallow.

Family with Down Syndrome Child Meets John McCain and Sarah Palin  —  BEGIN TRANSCRIPT  —  RUSH: Kurt in Pittsburgh, hello, sir.  Nice to have you on the EIB Network, and how about the Steelers defense?  —  CALLER: How about those Steelers, huh?  —  RUSH: How about that?

Election 2008: Montana Presidential Election  —  Montana: McCain Surges Ahead by Double-Digits  —  John McCain has opened a double digit lead over Barack Obama in Montana.  The latest Rasmussen Reports telephone survey in the Treasure State finds McCain leading by eleven, 53% to 42% …

McCain Sex-Ed Ad Launched; Obama Camp: “Perverse”  —  John McCain is out with a response ad to Barack Obama's attacks today on his education policy, accusing the Democratic nominee of not accomplishing a single education-related goal other than to promote “comprehensive sex education” to kindergartners.

Was Biden Talking About Palin During Stem Cell Research Reference?  —  From CBS News' Ryan Corsaro:  —  (COLUMBIA, MO.) - Was Joe Biden referring to Sarah Palin, a mother of a child with Down syndrome, when he made this comment?  —  “I hear all this talk about how the Republicans …

LYING SARAH WATCH  —  Sometimes when you've got a liar as big as Sarah Palin on the line only a timeline will really do justice to her fibbing ways.  —  So a lot of you have written in to ask: Okay, she says she said ‘Thanks.  But no thanks’ to the Bridge to Nowhere.  But how exactly did it all come out?

Brown backs Obama  —  Gordon Brown has broken with British convention and made clear that he favours Barack Obama as the next US President.  —  In a departure from the usual self-denying ordinance of Prime Ministers past, Brown has written an article for The Monitor magazine …